In the middle of downtown Ansan.
A building of overwhelming size stood on a vast plot of land.
It was not very far from where Seonghyeon lived.
He had never really had any reason to go there, so he had not known what kind of building it was.
‘This place was the Hunter Association?’
Seonghyeon only now learned that the building was the Hunter Association.
It was large enough to look as though three massive sports stadiums had been attached together.
On top of that, aside from one building, the place was surrounded by thick defensive walls, and heavily equipped guards stood watch over it with strict security.
‘Seeing it up close, the atmosphere is seriously intense.’
The taxi stopped in front of the comparatively open building.
And Seonghyeon hesitated for a moment, overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the Hunter Association.
Until that very morning, he had been an ordinary civilian.
He still felt distant from the title of Hunter.
Still, Seonghyeon soon got out of the taxi.
‘I don’t know. Let’s just go in first.’
Unlike its exterior, the inside of the Hunter Association felt rather familiar.
It had the vibe of a neighborhood administrative welfare center.
He had not expected that at all.
Of course, besides Hunter registration, they would also handle all dungeon-related civil complaints.
And the method was, naturally, Korean-style.
[Please take a number.]
【General Civil Complaints: Dungeon Discovery, Damages, Found Items, Villains, etc.: 24 waiting】
【Hunter-Related Services: Hunter Registration, Certificate Issuance, Exchange Visits, etc.: 0 waiting】
Wasn’t Korea’s civil complaint processing system number one in the world?
The staff processed complaints at an impressive speed.
That had to be why people kept coming, yet the number of waiting visitors did not increase.
It certainly seemed worthy of being called the best in the world.
Thinking that, he pressed the button on the ticket machine.
Bzzzt—
【Queue Number: 8003】
‘Oh… number 8003.’
Naturally, that did not mean eight thousand awakened people had come before him. It seemed they started counting from the eight-thousands to separate it from general complaints.
But then.
“Excuse me, sir?”
A whisper came from behind him.
When he turned around, an information desk employee was gesturing for him to come closer.
“Yes? What is it?”
“Are you here for Hunter services?”
He stepped closer and answered, but the information desk employee was still whispering.
“Ah, yes. I awakened—”
“Shh!”
He was trying to answer without knowing what was going on, but the employee suddenly gestured for him to be quiet.
‘What the… You’re the one who talked to me.’
Then, following the employee’s gaze and looking around, he understood why.
At the sound of the word “awakened,” the visitors had begun sneaking glances at him.
Their attention had gathered on Seonghyeon, who might be a Hunter.
He already felt suffocated.
“Ah… I think I ate some bad fried snacks. Where’s the restroom?”
“Yes, the restroom is over there.”
When he awkwardly changed the subject, only then did the employee’s voice grow louder.
And the surrounding attention also faded.
He wondered if he really had to go so far as to pretend to use the restroom, but then another quiet whisper came from behind him.
“…And if you use the stairs in front of the restroom, you can receive Hunter services on the second floor.”
That was right.
The world’s number-one information desk employee had good sense.
As expected of Korea’s civil service system.
Pretending his stomach hurt, Seonghyeon headed up to the second floor.
“Hello! I’m Park Jitae from the Hunter Registry. Have you awakened as a Hunter?”
Once he arrived on the second floor, the atmosphere here was not one where people hid the fact that they had awakened.
There were not many people in the first place, so it made sense.
Thanks to that, his worried mind eased.
“Yes. I awakened earlier today.”
“Ah, then you might have gone to the same dungeon as those people over there.”
Looking where Park Jitae pointed, he saw that two people were already being measured.
Fortunately, from the outside, it looked like a basic physical examination.
He had had no idea how they would check that terrifying skill of his, but it did not seem like they were checking skills yet, so he felt relieved.
“Yes, well, maybe.”
“You must have been really shocked, then.”
“By what?”
“I heard there was an incredibly huge explosion or something in the dungeon. From what I heard overall, it sounded like the work of a villain.”
“Ah… Ah… That.”
‘That was me, though?’
This was awkward.
If he agreed with Park Jitae’s claim, it felt like he would be insulting himself.
But if he defended the Hunter assumed to be a villain, he would obviously look like a weirdo.
“It was… terrifying, yes.”
So he had no choice but to blur his answer vaguely.
He could already picture the situation where he might have to live in hiding from now on.
He had gained a profession, but at this rate, he would spend his whole life alone. Not a Hunter standing in the spotlight, but a lonely, pathetic Hunter skulking in the shadows.
That future looked almost certain.
“We’ll check your inventory first. How many mana stones did you obtain?”
“I got around one thous—”
“Huh???”
Park Jitae’s eyes widened.
Oops.
He had said he awakened today, but Seonghyeon had around 1,300 mana stones.
He did not know how many mana stones ordinary Hunters brought back.
But judging by the reaction, it seemed strange.
Right now, he had to be careful about everything.
He should cut it down as much as possible. For now, about ten percent…
Seonghyeon quickly swerved.
“For a first day, how is this much? One hundred eighty.”
“Oh! Your skill must be incredible. To get this many in a tutorial dungeon!”
Fortunately, Park Jitae’s reaction was not overly wary.
It made Seonghyeon feel even more keenly that he would have to live this precarious life from now on.
Oh, the sorrow of one who awakened the Meteor skill…
“1.8 million won. Would you like me to exchange it right away?”
A life spent hiding… Who cared about that crap?
When Seonghyeon heard the value of just ten percent of the mana stones he had earned, his dopamine surged.
A life where he earned 13 million won in a day. The reward was far too generous for him to complain about every little inconvenience.
A decent human being with shame should know better than to grumble.
After 1.8 million won was deposited into his account, a simple physical measurement followed.
Blood, strength, endurance, stamina, mana—basic figures like those were checked by a machine all at once.
“Your physical ability level isn’t that outstanding, is it?”
“Ah, is that so?”
And after seeing the results, Park Jitae’s attitude suddenly changed.
It was like he was subtly looking down on him… But did Seonghyeon care?
He was living a life where he earned 13 million won in a day.
“Wow, mana stones are hard to get, but you sure managed to gather a lot. Did you pick them up somewhere?”
‘Ah, so it wasn’t “subtle.” He’s openly doing it.’
He had not said anything to the two Hunters who had been measured first.
Yet he kept clinging to Seonghyeon and tossing out needling remarks.
Well, it did not really matter… If they thought he was weak, that was actually a thank-you.
After the physical ability measurement ended, he was waiting for the next test when the two Hunters who had arrived first spoke to him.
“Hello! Did you come alone?”
“Ah, yes. I’m alone…”
“We met here too. I’m Gong Yeongbeom!”
“I’m Jo Myeongsu. Nice to meet you.”
Since the two had been standing together, he had thought they had come together.
But now that he looked, it was just that one of them was very sociable.
The two smiled awkwardly and offered handshakes.
“Yes, nice to meet you. I’m Yoo Seonghyeon.”
“Wow, that’s a cool name.”
When Seonghyeon accepted the handshake, Gong Yeongbeom naturally added a businesslike compliment.
Should he say that the man seemed to have a lot of social experience?
He looked skilled at striking up conversation and taking the lead.
“Thank you.”
“You awakened today, right?”
“Yes, earlier this afternoon.”
“Then you might have run into Myeongsu.”
“I suppose that’s possible. Haha.”
And he smoothly connected the conversation with Jo Myeongsu as well.
After standing awkwardly alone until now, Gong Yeongbeom’s presence seemed to loosen the atmosphere a little.
Of course, it was still more awkward than comfortable…
“I actually awakened a few days ago.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I was thinking about whether or not to register as a Hunter. My skill duplicates mana stones, you see.”
“Huh?”
Then Gong Yeongbeom suddenly brought up something bizarre.
The skill he revealed felt strange in itself.
Still, maybe it could exist? Meteor existed, after all…
Even so, openly revealing his skill was not normal.
Skills were personal information considered sensitive enough that people did not reveal them carelessly.
Seonghyeon slowly began to feel something was off.
“Hahaha. They say you’re not supposed to reveal your skill so casually…”
Perhaps he had read the unease on Seonghyeon’s face.
Gong Yeongbeom soon tried to smooth over the atmosphere by changing the subject.
Whether he knew that or not, Jo Myeongsu still wore a serious expression, looking as though he was expecting something.
At this rate, that man was going to get tricked somehow…
“Okay, everything is ready. We’ll move to the skill testing hall.”
Fortunately, Park Jitae appeared before the conversation could get any stranger.
At that, Gong Yeongbeom instantly played innocent and fell silent.
However, Seonghyeon saw him secretly pass a small piece of paper to Jo Myeongsu.
‘No, come on, man. If mana stones could be duplicated, why would he come here? He’d have been scouted ages ago already.’
It was too uncertain to say directly, and the atmosphere would obviously turn strange.
So he swallowed the thought down inside.
On the way to the testing hall.
Park Jitae led them from the open building deep into the interior.
It seemed they were headed toward the inner buildings where security had been tight.
The construction materials also seemed to gradually change, and as advanced facilities appeared, it truly began to feel like a place related to Hunters.
The testing hall had several testing rooms surrounding a central waiting space.
From A to F, and beside testing room F, testing room A was attached again.
“Gong Yeongbeom, please move to testing room A. Jo Myeongsu, to testing room C. Yoo Seonghyeon, to testing room F.”
Seonghyeon wondered if there was a rule to the placement of the testing rooms.
But from the outside, there did not seem to be anything particularly different about them.
“We’ll begin the testing with testing room F.”
‘Oh, sweet.’
He looked weak, and on top of that, he could go home quickly.
Since F was the last letter, he had thought they would check him last and send him away last, but it seemed to be the opposite.
Since he looked weak, they probably wanted to check him quickly and send him off quickly.
For strong Hunters, the Association would have to persuade them to join, after all.
The skill test itself was simple too.
They said they only checked whether a person could use the unrealistic ability known as a skill.
There was no process for assigning a rank or anything like that.
But then.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes! Of course!”
“You’re really saying I can use it here?”
“Absolutely!”
Seonghyeon argued with Park Jitae for quite a while.
What he had suspected had indeed turned out to be true.
Since it was called a skill test, he had thought there would be some special method, but they were telling him to use his skill on a target…
He simply could not bring himself to do it. His skill was Meteor, after all.
The Association’s testing room did seem to have been built sturdily.
The material did not look ordinary either, and in the center of the testing room, a cube-shaped target floated in the air.
In that case.
‘With technology like this… maybe they’re really confident?’
Maybe they had seen plenty of powerful skills, and that was why they spoke so confidently.
While Seonghyeon hesitated, Park Jitae pointed at the target and spoke once more.
“Yes! Quite a few Hunters worry that their skills are too powerful, but this place was truly built sturdily. Even if an A-rank Hunter went wild here, there would be absolutely no problem!”
Looking at Park Jitae’s expression, Seonghyeon could roughly guess what he was really thinking.
In other words, stop wasting his time and use the skill already.
‘Hmm, my skill is EX-rank, though… But an employee would know better than a rookie who awakened today.’
Seonghyeon decided not to worry anymore.
『Meteor (EX)』- Trait: Precision[Set Target]0001. Choi Jincheol0002. Geum Boksoon0003. Jo Myeongsu……1241. Gong Yeongbeom ◀1242. Park Jitae……4999. Other Location (Specify Viewpoint)5000. Stored Target (None)[When using the skill Meteor (EX) outside a dungeon, do you permit lethal functionality?]
“!!!”
Lethal functionality? He had nearly been screwed.
Roughly five thousand people had been marked as targets. If he had used the skill right away, he would have almost put a huge hole in Gong Yeongbeom’s head.
No matter how sketchy the man felt, that was unacceptable.
Concentrating as much as he could…
‘Disable lethal functionality.’
[The skill Meteor (EX) will be applied in non-lethal mode outside dungeons.]
After removing the lethal function, Seonghyeon calmly aimed again.
4999. Other Location (Specify Viewpoint) ◀5000. Stored Target (None)
“Yes, then…”
Exactly 0.1 seconds after he used the skill.
Kugwagwagwagwa!!
From outside the testing room came a sound like something collapsing, and one side crumpled inward.
Various devices attached to the building broke and fell, and the wall tore open, destroying the adjacent testing room as well.
‘No… I really did screw up.’
He had wrecked the Ansan Association.
Feeling hollow, he checked on Park Jitae. The man’s eyes were bulging as if they were about to pop out, seemingly quite flustered.
And then.
WEE-OOO, WEE-OOO—
[Emergency— Emergency— Villain attack! Villain attack!]
An alarm rang out terrifyingly.
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
Park Jitae came running over with a scream that seemed like it would tear Seonghyeon’s ears apart.
Seonghyeon felt wronged.
‘You said it was sturdy…’
“Please escape quickly! We’re under attack!”
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
“It’s an attack!”
“Please escape quickly! Hurry!”
Unlike the dazed Seonghyeon, the Association grew chaotic and tense because of the incident.
The guards swiftly searched the impact point, while Association staff guided people to evacuate.
Seeing that, Seonghyeon slowly began to have a thought.
‘Huh? Do they not know it was me?’
“Hunter! Hunter! What are you doing? Please get out quickly!”
Right. They did not know.
In that instant, relief washed over Seonghyeon.
As the tension drained from him, he even felt sleepy.
Who knew living as a Hunter would be this exhausting? Once his registration was finished, he would have to become a reclusive Hunter.
And.
‘Hunter Association, I’m sorry. But that bastard Park Jitae really did say it would be fine.’
And so, thanks to blending in with the crowd, Seonghyeon was fortunately able to escape the Hunter Association.